Mary of Lorraine

The castle looketh dark without; Within the rooms are cold and dreary; The chill light from the window fades; The fire it burneth all uncheery. With meek hands cross'd beside th...

Oh, when will ye come hame again? Dear Willie, tell to me; "When sun and moon loup o'er yon hill-- And that will never be!" She turned hersel right round about, Her heart burst...

Then pale, pale grew her tearfu' cheek, "Let ane o' my sons three Alane guide this emprise, your eild May ill sic travel dree! O where were I, were my dear lord, And a' my sons...

Lady Alison of Fawside had been a beauty in her youth, when the stout and buirdly knight Sir John had wooed and won her, in the Castle of Calzean; and in memory of this alliance...

The sun was setting in the westward--for in the year of grace 1547 it set in the westward just as it does now, though history omits to record the fact. Seven had tolled from the...

This apartment, which was next to that in which Florence Fawside was testing the merits of the eels of Linlithgow Loch (which are still much prized) and Ralf Riddel's Largo mutt...

My sword, my spear, my shaggy shield, They make me lord of all below; For he who dreads the lance to wield Before my shaggy shield must bow; His lands, his vineyards must resign...

Yet if the gods demand her, let her sail,-- Our cares are only for the public weal: Let me be deem'd the hateful cause of all, And suffer, rather than my people fall. The prize,...

Consciousness returned slowly to Florence Fawside, and when his eyes unclosed, he saw first the huge misshapen figures of a large green-and-russet-coloured tapestry, which cover...

His qualities were beauteous as his form, For maiden-tongued he was, and thereof free; Yet, if men moved him, he was such a storm As oft twixt May and April we may see. _A Lover...

Late my spring-time came, but quickly Youth's rejoicing currents run, And my inner life unfolded Like a flower before the sun. Hopes, and aims, and aspirations, Grew within the...

The morrow came with its sunshine; but the two fair faces which had been wont to shed even a more cheering influence over the couch of the wounded youth were no longer there. Ho...

Hail, land of spearmen! seed of those who scorn'd To stoop the proud crest to imperial Rome! Hail! dearest half of Albion sea-wall'd! Hail! state unconquer'd by the fire of war,...

Then the Count of Clara began in this manner: "Sirs, it is manifest that men in this world can only become powerful by strengthening themselves with men and money; but the money...

Madame, I was true servant to thy mother, And in her favour aye stood thankfullie, And though that I to serve be not so able As I was wont, because I may not see-- Yet that I he...

Thy voice--oh, sweet to me it seems, And charms my raptured breast; Like music on the moonlit sea, When waves are lull'd to rest. The wealth of worlds were vain to give, Thy sin...

In a preceding chapter we left two right honourable lords--to wit, the earls of Bothwell and Glencairn--in search of Master Patten, the scribe or secretary to Edward Shelly, the...

My lord hath sent you this note; and by me this farther charge, that you swerve not from the smallest article of it, neither in time, matter, or circumstance.--_Measure for Meas...

The evening of the day on which he left the metropolis was closing, when, after a ride of many miles, Florence found himself, with a sorely jaded horse, on the borders of the an...

Such, indeed, was the character of the person upon whose rustic privacy Fawside now intruded himself. The tower, though built four centuries before, by Duthac the Thane, was ind...

Yet might not Aquilante's spirit fail, Though shivered was his shield, and gashed his mail! Cautious but firm he struck; no sign of dread, His aspect or his manly port displayed...

"I dare!--I, Claude Hamilton of Preston," replied the stranger, in whom Florence (now released, and though reclining faint and feebly on a bench) recognized, to his astonishment...

The Avon, a tributary of the Clyde, flows through a beautiful valley, the sides of which are clothed with magnificent timber of great size and age. Embosomed amid the thickest p...

On the way from Cadzow to Stirling, though frequently honoured by the society of the regent, who requested him to ride near his person, Florence was sad, sombre, and abstracted;...

And many a band of ardent youths were seen, Some into rapture fired by glory's charms, Or hurl'd the thundering car along the green, Or march'd embattled on in glittering arms....

Oh, gentlemen of Scotland! oh, chevaliers of France! How each and all had grasp'd his sword and seized his angry lance, If lady-love, or sister dear, or nearer, dearer bride, Ha...

'Tis but thy name, that is my enemy;-- Thou art thyself though, not a Montague. What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a m...

Captain Swagger has ask'd me to wait on you, sir!-- Of course you remember last evening's transaction?-- And you, as a gentleman, cannot demur At giving the captain the due sati...

Wist England's king that I was ta'en, O gin a blythe man he would be; For once I slew his sister's son, And on his breast have broke a tree. _Ballad._

The sombre reflections mentioned at the close of the last chapter but one, again recurred to Florence, as he rode from the fortress and sought the winding path which led to the...

It was fortunate for Florence that he was accompanied by the three well-armed and well-mounted burgesses of Edinburgh, as several of the Lord Bothwell's friends or allies were l...

After riding about three leagues, they saw the castle, and a goodly one it seemed; for before it ran a river, and it had a drawbridge, whereon was a fair tower at the end.--_Ama...

It fell about the Martimas time, When winds blow snell and cauld. That Adam o' Gordon said to his men, Where will we get a hauld? See ye not yon fair castle Stands on yon lily l...

Thus to her children Luisa speaks--she cries, With you, my sons, my fate, my vengeance lies! Live for that cause alone, with it to fall, A bleeding mother's is a holy call. _Por...

The limited accommodation of this small tower could only afford two chambers for the unexpected visitors. To Florence, as a gentleman of known degree, was assigned the best; to...

What is the worst of woes that wait an age? What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow? To view each loved one blotted from life's page, And be on earth, alone, as I am now. _By...

Oh, get thee gone! thou mak'st me wrong the dead, By wasting moments consecrate to tears, In idle railing at a wretch like thee! A mother rarely will with patience hear A true r...

With a graceful step and stately, Proud of heart and proud of mien; With her deep eyes shining grayly, Cometh Lady Madeline, Trembling as with cold; With cheek red-flush'd like...

I will have such revenges on you both, That all the world shall--I will do such things,-- What they are, yet I know not; but they shall be The terrors of the earth. You think I'...

He kneel'd in prayer in a lonely room, Raised hand and streaming eye, With a swimming brain, and a burning heart, And a wild and bitter cry; And a light came down on his stormy...

On this gloomy evening, the 2nd of September, the tower of Preston, like every other tower and fortalice in Scotland, presented a scene of bustle and warlike preparation. Clumps...

Night-jars and ravens, with wide-stretch'd throats, From yews and hollies send their baleful notes; The ominous raven, with a dismal cheer, Through his hoarse beak, of following...

Fast as the fatal symbol flies, In arms the huts and hamlets rise; From winding glen, from upland brown, They pour'd, each hardy tenant, down. Nor slack'd the messenger his pace...

Our Scottish warriors on the heath, In close battalia stood; To free their country and their queen, Or shed their reddest blood. The Anglo-Saxons' restless band Has cross'd the...

Up, comrades, and saddle! to horse and away To the field where freedom's the prize, sirs! There hearts of true mettle still carry the day, And men are the kings and the kaisers....

Lo, I have ripen'd discord into war! So let them now agree and form the league; Since Trojan swords have spilt Ausonian blood; The war stands sure; and hand to hand they've foug...

Yet turn ye to the eastern hand, And wae and wonder ye shall see; How thirty thousand Scotsmen stand, Where yon rank river meets the sea. There shall the lyon lose the gylte, An...

Near Ilus' tomb, in order ranged around, The Trojan lines possess'd the rising ground; The sea with ships, the fields with armies spread, The victors rage, the dying and the dea...

The deeds of our sires if our bards should rehearse, Let a blush or a blow be the meed of their verse; Be mute every string, and be hush'd every tone, That shall bid us remember...

The hazel throws his silvery branches down. There, starting into view, a castled cliff, Whose roof is lichen'd o'er, purple and green, O'erhangs thy wandering stream, romantic E...

Full on this casement shone the wintry moon, And threw gules on Madeline's fair breast, As down she knelt for Heaven's grace and boon; Rose-blossoms on her hands together prest....

The rascal who would not give cut and thrust for his country, as long as he had a breath to draw or a leg to stand on, should be tied neck and heels, without benefit of clergy,...

Oh, these bright days are past, And their joys are buried deep; Sweet flowers that couldna last, They've gane with those we weep. The world is now grown cold, And the mirth and...

Woe, woe to ye! ye haughty towers; No sound of sweetest strain, No music, song, nor roundelay Shall haunt your halls again; Naught--naught but sighs and groans, And tread of sla...

Four days after the battle, _i.e._, the 14th of September, Holyrood Day, or the Festival of the Exaltation of the Cross, a time when children were wont of old to commence nuttin...

This dowry now our Scottish virgin brings, A nation famous for a race of kings, By firmest leagues to France for ages join'd, With splendid feats and friendly ties combined, A h...